An Innocent Heart
by Cecil Serling
Summary: Lenalee encounters a strange little town while she's heading home after completing a mission. The townspeople are acting odd, a little girl is playing with Akuma, and the child keeps disappearing when she chases after a white rabbit. The girl seems to be the cause of all this strangeness, and Lenalee suspects Innocence has something to do with it.
1. Day 1

**Disclaimer: Lewis Carroll does not own D. Gray-Man. Hoshino Katsura does not own Alice in Wonderland. I own neither Alice in Wonderland nor D. Gray-Man. I don't believe I own Lewis Carroll or Hoshino Katsura either.**

* * *

**Day 1**

The first time Lenalee sees her, she doesn't quite know what to do. Should Lenalee save her? How do you save someone who isn't in trouble? But surely, she _has_ to be in trouble, right?

What exactly is an exorcist suppose to do when she finds a little girl and several Akuma running around in a circle? Kill the Akuma, probably. So she does just that.

Her Innocence activates, and one by one the Akuma are kicked, slammed into the ground, and destroyed. Funny, they don't run away. They don't defend themselves. They don't even bother to make ridiculous remarks about how she's surely going to die. It seems as though the Akuma don't even realize she is there.

When all the Akuma are destroyed, the little running girl seems to realize that she's the only one still running. She looks up at Lenalee.

Her eyes are strange. They are some odd blue color, and they look slightly clouded. Lenalee wonders if the girl has some sort of illness. The girl blinks slowly, much like a content cat.

The female exorcist is about the speak.

_Are you okay? Why were you running in circles with those creatures? Does your family know where you are? Where do you live?_

The little girl beats her to it.

"Do I win?"she asks, eyes managing to sparkle while still staying clouded.

Lenalee doesn't know what she's talking about.

"Do I win the Caucus-race?" she asks again, getting impatient. The girl gives her head a little toss to keep the hair out of her eyes.

The exorcist has never heard of a Caucus-race.

A white rabbit runs past them and over the hill.

"Oh dear!"

And the little girl is chasing after it.

Lenalee thinks the rabbit understands what is happening more than she does.

The girl is running over the hill now, her pale blue dress and the ribbon in her hair fluttering all around in the wind.

"Wait!" Lenalee calls out as she begins to chase after the girl. The exorcist reaches the top of the hill and looks down. The girl and the rabbit are nowhere to be found.

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_A/N: This little story is already completed, and I'll be adding a new "chapter" everyday. Each chapter is just a different day in this story's timeline. There are 13 chapters, and the story is about 6,600 words long, so each chapter is pretty short. I'm trying to learn how to write a story with some sort of plot, and this is my first attempt. My next attempt at writing a plot will hopefully be more developed and longer. I hope you enjoy the story at least a little bit!_


	2. Day 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man. Those belong to Lewis Carroll and Hoshino Katsura, respectively.**

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**Day 2**

She doesn't understand. The townspeople won't look at her when possible. They avoid her when they can. Sometimes, Lenalee thinks, they don't even notice she is there.

She tries to ask them if they know who the little girl is. They ask, "who?" and she tells them of the little blonde girl in a blue dress, and a strange look passes over their faces, as if they were just told that the sun is blue and the grass is red and that their parents have been brutally murdered. They quickly shake it off and laugh, telling her that they've neither seen nor heard of a child like that.

She asks them about the hill. They look confused and say the land is flat for miles around here.

Lenalee walks around the outskirts of the small town. No, she refuses to believe it. She wanders around and checks every side of the town, speaking to people as she meets them.

Eventually, she has to accept it. There is not a single hill in sight. It has vanished, just like that.

She calls Komui to tell him she may have found something. Innocence always does cause peculiar events. Whatever is happening in this place surely counts as an odd phenomenon. Komui doesn't answer. Something's wrong. Komui always answers. He's suppose to be babbling and crying and begging for her to come home. But now, there's silence. She checks the phone and her golem. They seem to be working fine.

"Hello?" she ventures.

"Lena-" and then silence. The lights of the gas lamps outside flicker. She wonders if this town can contact the outside world. Who knows what this (maybe) Innocence can do?

It's late. She should take a break from investigating for the day. There's an inn across the street. She crosses the street and she's struck by how suddenly cold it is outside. It seeps through her skin and cuts right into her bones. She hurries into the establishment and breathes a sigh of relief when the warmth hits her.

She quickly gets a room, and as she's about to go leave the main room to get to a bed, she decides to ask the owner about the girl and the hill. She turns toward him, and she's about to ask, but he speaks before she does.

"I've heard from others that there's been a traveler asking questions about Alice. Please, don't mention her. We don't understand it either, and it's best if we just forget."

The man's words strike something in her.

"You people let this girl wander around monsters and you just try to forget?" She can feel anger start to boil in her chest. This is wrong. Very wrong.

"Her mother tried to take her home once."

The anger freezes. The man looks weary. His shoulders droop. He bows his head.

"We didn't even have a body to bury."

There's something tightening in Lenalee's chest, constricting her lungs and heart and soul. She's heard this same story so many times before, but it never fails to make her heart ache.

The man sighs.

"Goodnight, Miss."

She hears the clock chime midnight, and she thinks she see a little girl with clouded eyes and an irritated expression outside the window.

Lenalee finds that she can't sleep.


	3. Day 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man**

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**Day 3**

Lenalee finds her again. The exorcist has been walking, searching, when she suddenly realizes she is on a hill. The little girl is crying and muttering something along the lines of "you ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Her striped stockings are covered in dirt, and she seems to have scraped her elbows.

"What's wrong?" Lenalee asks the girl. The girl stops muttering, startled, and quickly dries her eyes. She looks at the exorcist as though Lenalee has just asked if bats ate cats.

"No, nothing is wrong. Why? Oh dear, _is _something wrong?" the girl asked. Lenalee pretends that the girl isn't talking more to herself than to the exorcist. She kneels down next to the sitting girl.

"No, nothing is wrong," she finds herself echoing the girl's words. She pauses when she remembers the man's words from last night. Lenalee makes eye contact with the little girl, ready to watch for a reaction, before asking "Is your name Alice?"

The girl doesn't answer, not right away. She plays with her golden hair, twirling it around her little fingers. She seems to be thinking. Lenalee's mind is racing. Would this girl not answer her?

"Well, I _think_ I am Alice. Am I Alice? Have I changed overnight? I do think I feel a little different today. But if I'm not Alice, then who am I?" the girl stops talking for a moment and looks at Lenalee. She's always been looking at Lenalee, but now she's really _looking_ at Lenalee. "And may I ask, who are _you_?"

"My name is Lenalee," she says. She decides to add, "And you are Alice."

Alice simply hums in agreement. She stands up, patting her dress down smoothly, and starts skipping away. Lenalee follows her. They travel in silence. A few minutes pass, and the exorcist believes that Alice doesn't even know where she is going.

"Where are we headed?" Lenalee asks.

"I don't know," the girl admits. She continues walking. Lenalee can feel her face form a puzzled expression.

"Don't you have some sort of destination?"

"A what?" Oh, right. Alice is still a child. Lenalee remembers to use smaller words.

"Don't you have some place you want to go to?"

"Of course I do. How am I suppose to get there though if there aren't any signs anywhere? We have to find some signs."

Lenalee wonders where this girl expects to find signs.

"And where do you want to go?" the exorcist asks. The little girl exasperatedly sighs as though she's been asked this question a thousand times and tires of repeating herself.

"To the garden!" She says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. The girl suddenly starts running around Lenalee. Now, Alice is behind her, and Lenalee catches a glimpse of white in her peripheral vision.

The exorcist turns around, only to be greeted by a flat plain.

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_A/N: Thank you to Uchiha Bara for favoriting! :)_


	4. Day 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man.**

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**Day 4**

Alice can suppress the blood lust in Akuma. At least, that's what Lenalee believes from her observations. The blonde girl is currently chattering away with a level one. The level one does not respond.

Lenalee is extremely uncomfortable. Every instinct she has in her is screaming at her. Destroy the Akuma. Kill it. Eliminate the danger and save the soul trapped inside and the little girl standing right in front of it.

But Lenalee holds herself back. For now, she watches and tries to understand. She pretends that adrenaline isn't coursing through her, and she pretends that she doesn't want to jump up and kick that monster back to hell with all of her strength.

Alice is babbling about pastries and cats. Speaking of food, Lenalee notices how thin the girl is. Her dress covers and conceals most of her body, but her arms are left uncovered. They're simply skin and bones from what Lenalee can see. She makes a mental note to go get something from the bakery in town for the girl.

The level one stares at Alice. Its monstrous form doesn't seem to be moving at all, not even inching a millimeter to the left or to the right as it floats in the air. The face is as expressionless as ever. It's much too strange for Lenalee. She want to do something, _anything_, but she can't. She can't leave Alice alone here with this demon, but she can't destroy it yet either. She needs to know how Alice is doing this.

The little girl has moved on to the topic of the French language. Lenalee wonders why this girl isn't terrified out of her skin. The appearance of this horrid thing is enough to make any normal child flee in fear. Then again, Alice isn't a normal child.

"...Dormouse?" Alice finishes. She must have asked the Akuma a question. But why did she call it a dormouse? What exactly is this girl seeing in front of her? Alice huffs.

"Did you fall asleep again?" she asks. Lenalee doesn't miss the fact that Alice has said "again." The girl prances up to the Akuma, and Lenalee has to use all of her willpower to stop herself from holding Alice back. The little girl looks the Akuma in the eye, the eye of that strange face, the milky blank eye that almost resembles Alice's own clouded eyes, and then she pokes the Akuma. Lenalee holds her breathe (this is it, it's going to attack her), but nothing happens. Alice huffs yet again and starts walking away.

Lenalee exhales, but she doesn't let her guard down. The Akuma is still floating there. It still hasn't moved, but Alice is getting farther and farther away.

And suddenly, Lenalee thinks she sees the Akuma glowing. It's a very strange sort of glowing, sometimes flickering, sometimes flaring. Some sort of green color, Lenalee thinks. Then, just like that, the glow strengthens to a blinding light, and Lenalee has to close her eyes. She opens them as fast as she can, and when she does, the Akuma is gone.

And so is Alice.


	5. Day 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man. Those belong to Lewis Carroll and Hoshino Katsura, respectively.**

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**Day 5**

The townspeople are wondering why that traveler in the striking uniform isn't gone yet. Travelers usually leave this place as quickly as they can.

The baker smiles at the woman as she leaves his store. He's convinced that his smile looks sincere, but Lenalee knows it isn't as she smiles back. The man isn't up to Allen's level yet.

Lenalee wanders outside of the town. She's looking around, searching for the hill that will hopefully appear.

Alice is standing next to her, and Lenalee almost drops the basket in her arms. The exorcist almost glares at the little girl, but she doesn't because she's Lenalee and Alice is a little girl and Alice didn't mean to surprise her.

They haven't even said a word to each other yet, and Alice is already rummaging through the basket. Kanda would probably call the girl a brat.

Alice already has a blueberry tartlet in her hand. Lenalee swipes it away before Alice can take a bite and puts it back in the basket. She hands the girl some bread and butter and tells her she can have the sweets once she has eaten something filling.

The girl seems to be thinking about something, and then she asks, "How do I know you haven't poisoned the food?"

Lenalee nearly scoffs and says something about how Alice should have asked that before grabbing a tartlet herself, but, ah, the key word here is nearly. Instead, Lenalee just tells Alice that she hasn't poisoned the bread, nor will she, and can Alice please just eat something already.

Alice huffs and crosses her arms and glares at Lenalee. Something strikes Lenalee as odd. She can't quite put her finger on it.

Alice, it's something about her, that's all that Lenalee can decipher at the moment. She looks the same as always; she isn't speaking differently; her expression is entirely normal on her face. There's something off about the whimsical aura that surrounds her little body today though.

The girl is still refusing the bread and pouting, and Lenalee knows something is _wrong._

"Alice, please just eat the bread," Lenalee asks. This girl is nearly starving; Lenalee can figure out what's wrong later. The blonde crosses her arms and turns her back on Lenalee. She stares ahead, not paying any attention to Lenalee.

"Alice, please."

No answer.

"Alice, just take the bread."

Nothing.

"Alice?"

Silence is the only response that Lenalee receives. The exorcist realizes that she's being given the silent treatment, and she can't help but feel a tick of annoyance. She's just trying to help the girl!

Alice's stomach then lets out a great roar, and before Lenalee even notices she is no longer holding any bread in her hand, half of the loaf is already in Alice's stomach. Lenalee blinks, and most of the bread is gone. The food is eaten quickly, but not in a barbaric manner; Allen springs to the front of Lenalee's mind.

"May I have the tart now?" Alice asks, ever so polite.

Lenalee simply nods her head. She sits on the ground, and Alice follows suit. The girl grabs several sweets out of the basket, and the two ladies' little picnic commences.

Lenalee figures out what was _wrong_ about Alice today when she goes back to being right (but still very wrong). It was her eyes. Her eyes had been clear. That foggy film clouding the reality from her eyes was gone. It's back now.

Lenalee wishes she had gotten a better look at Alice's eyes before the fog came back.

And Lenalee's heart is thumping. The world around her is dark, with small pricks of light dotting the world above her, and the world underneath her is soft and moist. Her hands dig into whatever is under her, and the world crumbles around her hands and consumes her fingers. Her hair is clinging to her face, and the dots of light above her are slowly being covered, and something is falling on her. Blood, it's blood, she knows it is.

_Where is Alice?_

The exorcist moves, tries to move, and the world is swirling and turning and swallowing and suddenly it's all clear.

It's just night. It's just raining. She's sitting on the ground and her nails are covered in the dirt that is slowly turning into mud.

_Where is Alice?_

And then it hits Lenalee. It's _night_. It's _raining_. It had been sunny, and the sky had been clear.

She doesn't understand what is happening. Her stomach is being stabbed with needles of pain, and her eyes burn. Alice is nowhere to be seen. The land is flat.

Lenalee runs back to the town. She almost trips, but she doesn't, and she's at the inn where she's staying at. Nobody is there to greet her; they must be asleep. _How is it so late?_ She stumbles to her room and tries to get the key out of her pocket, but no she must have dropped it, it's not there, it's not there, wait, no, it's in another pocket. The key leaves scratches on the lock, but eventually Lenalee gets the door open.

She drops onto the bed. Her eyes are burning. She can't think.

There's something in her hand.

Little yellow strands flutter through the air as they fall.

Everything around her is weird and wrong.

Lenalee is falling asleep.

_Where is Alice?_


	6. Day 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man.**

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**Day 6**

The phone in the inn is ringing. Lenalee grabs it quickly and attaches her golem to it.

"Hello?"

"Lenalee? Lenalee! Lenalee, are you alright? Why aren't you back at headquarters yet? Has something happened?" the frantic voice of Komui sounds from the phone. Oh, Komui, Komui is calling! Lenalee feels better in this moment than she's felt in days.

"Brother, I'm fine. I'm in a town. I think there might be Innocence here. Something really weird is happening." She spends some time calming Komui down and then goes on to explain the reactions of the people in the town, her attempt to call headquarters, and Alice. She omits yesterday's adventures; there's no need to make Komui panic about something happening to his little sister.

Komui is silent for a moment. He's being serious. He's always like that when it comes to an exorcist being on a mission.

"Do you need backup? You have been missing for a week, are you sure you're alright?" His voice is grave, he's in Chief mode, but Lenalee can hear the slight pleading tone in his voice. He wants her to say yes; he wants to help her. Lenalee wants to say yes, she really does, and she still can't remember what happened yesterday.

"It's fine, Brother. I can handle it," and she forces her voice to sound cheerful. The Order is far too busy right now; every exorcist has missions upon missions to do. She can't be a burden. She can't keep relying on her companions. She has to take care of this herself.

How will she be able to protect everyone and get Allen back if she can't even handle one piece of Innocence?

"Lenalee..."

She can handle this by herself just fine.

"Yes?"

She needs to find more information on Alice and the possible Innocence.

"Please be careful."

She needs to _find Alice_.

"Don't worry, Brother. I'll be home before you know it."

And bring the girl home safe and sound.

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_A/N: Thank you for the reviews!_


	7. Day 7

**Disclaimer: I own neither Alice in Wonderland nor D. Gray-Man.**

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**Day 7**

Little curls of brown hair bounce as a girl skips past Lenalee. The exorcist has to dodge a group of boys, chanting some sort of silly rhyme, as they run past her.

Lenalee saw Alice in the distance today, but a little rabbit and the girl ran away and disappeared before Lenalee could catch them. No matter, Lenalee has found someone who could help her with her investigation and shall speak with her tomorrow.

The air is filled with the scent of freshly baked bread. A duet between a bird and violin pierces the silence of the day.

The church bells toll for Sunday mass.

The day is beautiful, and a scream is heard from the church as an exorcism is performed.

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_A/N: Day 6 and 7 were the shortest chapters so I just decided to upload them on the same day. _


	8. Day 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man. Those belong to Lewis Carroll and Hoshino Katsura, respectively.**

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**Day 8**

Lenalee is with a young woman today. They sit underneath a tree, surrounded by daisies. The shade casts a shadow over the women, and they are grateful for the little escape from the sun.

The woman's name is Lorina, Lenalee learned. She's a willowy lady with a gentle face, one that would be perfect if it weren't for the lightest of dark shadows under her eyes. She's wearing make-up, making herself presentable and hiding her worries. Lorina smiles, but the smile is empty. Her golden curls cascade around her shoulders and down her back, but they lack that special shimmer and shine that Lenalee somehow knows she should possess.

The lady fumbles with a charm on her necklace, heaves a sigh, and turns to Lenalee. Her eyes question Lenalee, asking the exorcist why she sits here with her. Lenalee smoothes out her skirt, wondering how to start.

"I was with Alice yesterday," she says. Lorina's eyes widen just the tiniest bit at the mention of Alice, but then she turns her face away, and all she replies with is a mumbled "oh."

A daisy flutters past them as the wind picks up just the slightest bit.

"Lorina," Lenalee starts, then thinks about how to continue. "Lorina, I need you to tell me what you can about Alice. Does she have an object she carries around a lot? Does she have an odd physical condition? Did anything strange happen? I know these may be weird questions, but I need you answer me."

Lenalee tries to look the young lady in the eye, but Lorina still has her face turned away.

The exorcist doesn't push her. She can't lose Lorina; the lady is the only lead she has on Alice.

When Lorina speaks, her voice is shaky, and Lenalee pretends she doesn't notice.

"We were sitting by the bank right over there," she says as she points to a spot a few meters from where they are sitting. "That was when, when... when _that something_ happened to Alice."

The lady stops speaking. She plays with her hair for a few moments, collecting her thoughts, before continuing.

"Her eyes... her eyes got all milky. Like a... like a blind person, that's right. I didn't notice that, her eyes, at first though. See, she had been laying on my lap, resting, when all of a sudden she had shot up and jumped to her feet. I asked her what was wrong, and she simply told me she had seen a white rabbit. What an odd thing to get so worked up about! A silly white rabbit! So I get up and walk over to her to see what made her so frantic about a little animal, and that's when I saw her eyes. It was so sudden a change that it startled me enough to make me drop my book! Then, before I even knew what was happening, Alice was running off!"

Lenalee nods her head, she's listening, and Lorina takes a breath. She seems to have noticed she was becoming a bit frantic, and when she starts speaking again, she is calmer, more collected.

"After Alice ran off, I couldn't find her again. After about an hour, perhaps, of searching, I ran to," her voice hitches. "...to Mother and Father and told them what happened. We spent the next few days searching for Alice, along with the help of some other townspeople."

And there it is, the subject of Mother. What should be sparking a warmth in the chest and a smile on the face is striking the heart with a cold pain and a wetness in the eyes.

Lorina's face is closed off. Her hands are clenched into fists. The birds are chirping and the sun is shining and nature is making a mockery of the lady's emotions. The young woman's eyes are shut tight, and Lenalee knows she has to continue the conversation.

"Did you find Alice?"

Nothing. Then, a hand grasping at the little charm (a kitten, Lenalee sees now) on the necklace around that delicate little neck.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

The exorcist waits. A strong gust of wind blows, and it chills the two girls down to the bone. The sun gives them warmth again soon enough.

"I can help you," Lenalee whispers.

Silence. Lorina moves to get up.

"I can bring Alice home," the exorcist continues. Lenalee needs to know everything she can about Alice and her family. Maybe if Lorina tells her just a little bit more, the information will help her find out what is happening in this little town and help her save the skinny little girl and the pretty young lady.

Lorina spins around and locks eyes with Lenalee for the first time since she started speaking about Alice. Her face is streaked with tears, but her eyes are strong.

"That's what Mother said! How could _you_ bring Alice home?!" And the lady is angry, fuming, and she needs to why this _child_ thinks she can bring Alice home when it cost their mother _her goddamn life._

"I've done this before, please, you have to trust me," Lenalee pleads. It's all she can think of saying.

Perhaps there's something about how Lenalee spoke her words, perhaps Lorina is just desperate, perhaps the world is flipping upside down and reflecting every which way all across the globe and sky, and perhaps it's a combination of all of everything, but something, _something, _made Lorina's eyes lose their fire, made her face lose its harshness.

"Do you promise?" It's childish, but Lorina needs to hear it, needs to have it swore to God.

"I promise."

And Lenalee knows that she can't give this woman her mother back, but she _will_ bring home her little sister.


	9. Day ?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man. Those belong to Lewis Carroll and Hoshino Katsura, respectively.**

* * *

**Day ?**

Lenalee is braiding Alice's hair. It's long and gold and full of knots and tangles.

Lenalee doesn't remember coming here.

Alice is speaking to a level two. No, wait, it's two level twos. Nope, never mind, it is just one level two. The thing has got two heads.

Lenalee knows she should care, she should be finding the Innocence, she should be finding out what's wrong with Alice, she needs to get home, but there's something, something about Alice's hair and she can't get this one knot untangled.

"Hey! Exorcist! Anybody there? Can't you see me?"

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_A/N: So since I forgot to post a chapter yesterday and I forgot how short this and the next day are, I'll just post two more chapters today, yeah, yeah?_


	10. D ay ?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man. Those belong to Lewis Carroll and Hoshino Katsura, respectively.**

* * *

**Day ?**

Ringing.

Ringing.

Ring.

Ring.

Ri

ng.

R

i

n

g

.


	11. D a y ?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or D. Gray-Man.**

* * *

**Day ?**

Th e gro un d

T he gro

und

i s

sof t.

No. It ' s

co ld? and

w e t ?

Ali ce?

Where i s Alice?

Where is Alice?

_Where is Alice?_

_Where am __**I**__?_

Lenalee's eyes fly open. She feels like she's made of ice, and she feels like she's been sculpted out of fire, and she feels like she's drowning. Her hands are sticky, and there's something on her face and splashed across her arms, and she feels like vomiting, but she pushes the feeling down.

The world around her is slowly coming into focus, and she's slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position. The first thing she notices is Alice.

Little Alice sitting next to a body.

Lenalee does vomit this time.

_So much blood._

The body is mutilated. Chest ripped apart. Throat torn open. Guts hanging out of the stomach.

Butterflies in the air.

A little kitten charm floating in the blood.

"Alice," Lenalee manages to say. "_Don't look_."

But Alice _is_ looking, and her long and gold hair is now red, but she doesn't seem to care.

Doesn't seem to care.

_Alice, _

_what happened here?_

"Isn't my sister pretty?" Alice says, apparently ignoring, _or not hearing_, what Lenalee said. Lenalee's vision is blurry and unfocused, and she can barely register anything else besides how tired she is.

"Your...sister?"

"Yeah, she must have been really tired though to fall asleep while reading," Alice says, then sighs. "And of course she was reading. Mother likes her more because of that. She acts ladylike and makes herself so pretty."

Does Alice sound... sad? No. More like an irritated child.

An irritated child practically bathed in blood and sitting in front of the mangled body of her dead sister.

Lenalee's eyelids keep fluttering shut, and she's trying her damnedest to keep them open.

"Alice... Alice, please... tell me what happened."

The girl turns away from the body and crawls closer to Lenalee.

"Well, me and that girl with the funny name were playing together and then we found my sister sleeping."

Alice's eyes are clouded, Lenalee takes note of that.

Wait.

"What girl?" Lenalee asks with furrowed brows. Alice laughs.

"The one sitting next to you!"

Sittin g

ne xt

t o

m e ?

The exorcist's head turns to the left.

Gray skin.

Dark hair.

Gold eyes.

And a Cheshire grin.

"Hello again, Dolly!"


	12. May 4th

**Disclaimer: I own neither Alice in Wonderland nor D. Gray-Man.**

* * *

**May 4th**

Lenalee wakes up with a sneeze, and the first thing she notices is how smoky the air is.

The second thing she notices is that she can't move.

Suddenly, her lungs are itching, and she's coughing, but, wait, she isn't alone, someone else is coughing next to her.

"God," another cough. "Why does Tyki smoke these things?"

A painful, painful burn on her skin.

"Hm?"

A weight is lifted from her lap. A shifting of fabric is heard.

"You're awake?"

A light slap on her face.

"Oi, open your eyes."

And so she does. Her vision is greeted with Road's smiling face. The girl reaches for Lenalee's face; Lenalee's heart beats faster; the nails are getting closer and closer to her left eye; Lenalee stops herself from flinching; and

Road brushes a strand of hair away and tucks it behind Lenalee's ear. The last time they were in a situation like this, the exorcist's hair had been curled. Her hair is too short for that now. Road combs through the dark colored strands with her fingers. The Noah hums, almost wistfully.

They both hear the sound of someone approaching, little tip-taps on the grass and dirt. Road smiles and, turning around, throws herself back onto Lenalee's lap.

"Hey!" a high-pitched voice calls out. "Can we please play that game now?"

_Alice._

Two gray hands come together in a clap, and Road announces that the game shall start right at this very moment. She twists around, looking up at Lenalee, and asks, in a way that implies that the answer should be obvious, "do you know how to play the game?"

And of course, Lenalee finds herself asking, "what game?"

Road sighs melodramatically and begins her explanation.

"Well, first things first, you," she points at Lenalee, and then points to herself as she continues on, saying, "and me are the players. Got that?"

Lenalee glares at Road, but the girl either doesn't notice or doesn't give a damn. A finger points at Alice.

"Alice is the playing board, and..." she draws out the word, building up her little act of suspense, and then announces, "the prize is Innocence!"

Lenalee's eyes widen. She doesn't quite understand how Alice can be part of the "game," but she knows without a doubt that the girl is in danger.

"Okay!" Dozens of candles surround Alice's little body.

A wicked grin stretches across Road's face.

"Lenalee, you go first!" Road drawls when she speaks, and it's most certainly done in a mocking manner. "Alright, where do you think the Innocence is inside little Alice?"

_The eyes?_

But Lenalee doesn't answer. No, it'll get Alice killed, and Alice needs to be safe, and Lenalee promised Lorina that she would bring her sister back.

Road laughs, and Lenalee curses, because you know what? Road doesn't give a damn about any of Lenalee's promises.

"You're not going to say anything? Come on, I know you must have _some_ guesses. If you don't take your turn, I'll just have to choose something for you."

A pause. An annoyed sigh from Road. The Noah starts braiding what she can of Lenalee's shoulder length hair.

"Fine. What do you think of the eyes? They're all cloudy and weird. I bet you already considered that as the source of the Innocence, didn't you? Let's go with the eyes." Without even looking away from the braid that she's playing with, Road waves her hand and launches two sharp candles at Alice's face. One goes into each eye, and the speed at which the points impact with Alice's face manages to send blood droplets all the way to where Road and Lenalee are sitting. Lenalee wants to scream, and, for some strange reason, Alice doesn't.

"Oh, boo," Road pouts. "Guess that wasn't correct."

Then, the girl in Lenalee's lap perks up. "Oh! It's my turn now!" She hums while she thinks, and she begins to braid another few strands of the exorcist's hair.

"How... about... her hands?" And with a snap of Road's fingers, black butterflies burst out of the skin of Alice's arms and devour the blonde girl's limbs up to the shoulders. The Noah doesn't seem to notice how Lenalee's face is paling, and she leans in close and giggles and whispers, "Tyki doesn't know I'm borrowing his Tease! He's gonna be so annoyed when he finds out."

"Okay, your turn again, Lenalee," Road announces now as she pulls on the hair she braided.

Silence. The sound of drops hitting a puddle is clearly audible.

"Am I gonna have to choose for you again o-"

"Her heart."

"Hm?"

"I... I think the Innocence is in her heart. Check her heart." But Lenalee has no idea where the Innocence is. Alice isn't reacting, but Lenalee knows she must be suffering, that this must be another one of Road's weird mind tricks. Lenalee has decided that if she can't keep her promise, she may as well stop an innocent girl from getting hurt more than she has to.

At first Road is shocked, but then she's annoyed. Of course the exorcist would find a way to ruin their little game. Ah, well, rules are rules. A candle is thrown into Alice's chest.

And another candle is thrown.

And another.

And another.

And another.

A green glow suddenly envelops the girl, and little Alice appears to have woken up back to reality, and she finally screams.

And screams.

And screams.

And screams.

"Looks like you won."

The screaming stops. A painful pull on Lenalee's hair.

"But... I _really_ can't afford to lose this Innocence so... I win!"

Lenalee wants to save Alice, to beat Road down, to scream, to cry, to sob. But she can't move; her limbs can't move; they've been chained; chained down to the floor.

_This is unfair!_

And Road is leaping off of Lenalee and heading towards little Alice and reaching for the green glow and Lenalee can't move but she has to do something she can't be useless she has to save the girl she _isn't useless she can do this she has to do this she can save the people who depend on her!_

Blood bursts from her ankles; her Innocence is shaping itself with the red liquid. She can practically feel the power radiating from her Innocence, and she's struggling against her bonds, and they're breaking, and she's free.

Her first kick is quick; Road doesn't expect it. It hurls the Noah away from Alice, little dead Alice. Road is speedy in her reaction, and she manages to fling herself into an upright position as she is kicked away. She throws her candles, dozens upon dozens of them. Lenalee is swift, dodging them, and she goes in for another kick, but her leg moves through Road, not landing a hit, as though the Noah were a ghost, and the world around them flickers.

Both of them stop moving, and the green glow from Alice's heart grows brighter.

Slowly, everything becomes...

_wrong._

The trees grow red roses instead of leaves and the sky starts swirling and the ground is cracking and the world is falling into puzzle pieces and the birds are complaining and the animals are speaking and there's screaming and running and screaming and running and screaming and running and running and screaming

and scrunning and runming and rcreanning and sunming and and and...


	13. Day 1?

**Disclaimer: Lewis Carroll does not own D. Gray-Man. Hoshino Katsura does not own Alice in Wonderland. I own neither Alice in Wonderland nor D. Gray-Man. I don't believe I own Lewis Carroll or Hoshino Katsura either.**

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**Day 1**

"Oh, I've had such a curious dream!" cried Alice. She flopped against her sister who had just managed to wake up the little lady. They're leaning against a tree, staring off into the water of the nearby lake as Alice recalls the adventures of her dreams. A women dressed in black is standing not too far off, and she's listening to every word that is tumbling out of the blonde's mouth.

Lenalee can hardly breathe. There's Alice, and there's Lorina. They're both breathing and talking and laughing and _alive. _Lenalee had just woken up, panicking about all the events that had just transpired what she believed to be just seconds ago, only to realize that nothing had happened.

But the thing is, _nothing_ had happened.

Nobody in this town recognized her. But surely, it couldn't all have been some fever dream. She _knew_ who Alice and Lorina were, as well as several other faces like the baker and the man at the inn.

Did the Innocence do this?

_Innocence. Road? Where... is she?_

But Road seems to have vanished, and she seemed just as surprised as Lenalee was by what was happening in those last few moments of... of... of whatever _that_ was.

Lenalee had already spent most of the day searching for an answer, searching for the Innocence. It seems to have just vanished. The Innocence and all the events that occurred were just eradicated from this town's history (but were they ever here in the first place?).

Lenalee is brought out of her musings when she notices a blur of gold fly past her in her peripheral vision. She turns around and there goes Alice, disappearing off to wherever she lives in that town.

_At least she isn't disappearing over the edge of a hill._

Lorina is alone, and she doesn't chase after Alice. The older sister just sits still there underneath the pretty tree. The sun is setting, and she closes her eyes. The soft, almost inaudible sounds of footsteps give her an incentive to open her eyes, and when she does, she sees an unfamiliar lady sitting next to her.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Lenalee says.

"Hm, yes, I suppose it is."

A blue butterfly flutters past their faces. The silence is bearable now, even pleasant, and it's nothing like their last meeting (does Lorina even remember that? Did that meeting ever actually exist?).

"What's got you making that face?" Lenalee asks in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

Lorina blushes, a bit embarrassed to have been caught so deep in her day-dreaming. Goodness, what kind of face was she making? She answers, "I've just been thinking... oh, my sister just told me about her queer little dream and it's sent my mind off to wonderland."

"Oh? What sort of dream was it?"

Lorina launches into a tale about mice and mad hatters and cats and cards and dodo birds and Queens and Duchesses. The tale includes flowers and gardens and gryphons and mock turtles and nonsensical words all around. Lenalee is fascinated, and, oh, perhaps this is what Alice meant when she began babbling about a Dormouse?

The story ends with a nostalgic sigh from Lorina. She stares at the sunset for a few moments before speaking again, much more mellow now.

"Wouldn't it be nice to be innocent like Alice again? To imagine all of these fantastic, wonderful stories and half-believe them true?"

And Lenalee is hit by the harsh reality that she hardly ever had that innocence, and it was stolen from her at an all too early age. And yet, she imagines herself as a little girl with Komui, and she imagines them sitting underneath a tree next to a lake. They tell each other stories from their dreams, and little Lavi is pushing Kanda into the lake as Allen tries not to burst out laughing.

Lenalee allows herself to indulge in her little fantasy and smiles.

"I'd like that very much."

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_The End. Hope you liked it!_


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